We look back 60 years ago to that plane crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper on February 3rd, 1959. We'll spin tunes from each of those along with Dion and Waylon Jennings. Dion also shares memories of Buddy, Sonny Curtis sings of the real Buddy story and we also hear a track from a recent release of Buddy Holly and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Listen for a snippet of a Dick Clark interview from 1958 with Buddy & The Crickets as well. Rave on!!!
Hear episode here:
Larry Welborn, Buddy Holly, Bob Montgomery
mid-50's
Intro Voice Over- Rob "Cool Daddy" Dempsey Intro Music Bed: Brian Setzer- "Rockabilly Blues"
Buddy Holly & Bob Montgomery (with Sonny Curtis)- "Midnight Shift" (alternate version with false start) Ritchie Valens- "Ooh! My Head" Dion on Buddy Holly Dion & The Belmonts- "I Wonder Why" (with studio chatter) The Big Bopper- "Chantilly Lace" Ritchie Valens- "Donna" The Crickets- "Maybe Baby" Buddy Holly (with Waylon Jennings handclaps)- "You're The One" (recorded at KLLL in Lubbock, TX)
Dion & The Belmonts
(Waylon Jennings far left)
Dick Clark interview with Buddy Holly & The Crickets The Crickets- "It's So Easy" The Big Bopper- "White Lightning" Buddy Holly- "Heartbeat" Dion- "Hug My Radiator" Ritchie Valens- "La Bamba" Newsreel from plane crash Buddy Holly- "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" (recorded at Buddy's apartment 11 Fifth Ave, New York City Dec. 14, 1958) Ritchie Valens- "Boney Maroney" Dion- "Oh Boy" Sonny Curtis- "Real Buddy Holly Story" Buddy Holly & The Crickets with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra- "Rave On"
Ritchie Valens on stage
Outro Music Bed: Link Wray- "That'll Be The Day"
Buddy Holly setlist February 2nd Surf Ballroom
Clear Lake, IA:
Gotta Travel On
Salty Dog Rag
It Doesn't Matter Anymore
Peggy Sue
That'll Be The Day
It's So Easy
Everyday
Oh Boy
Early In The Morning
Rave On
Brown Eyed Handsome Man
Ritchie Valens setlist February 2nd:
La Bamba
Come On, Let's Go
Donna
Fast Freight
Framed
The Big Bopper setlist February 2nd:
Chantilly Lace
The Big Bopper's Wedding
Witch Doctor and The Purple People Eater
Dion & The Belmonts setlist February 2nd:
Still researching and will post when found.
Buddy Holly (with Waylon Jennings & Tommy Allsup)
Clear Lake Iowa February 2, 1959
Waylon, Buddy, Tommy
Buddy and Dion
Ritchie Valens, Dion, Big Bopper on stage
Winter Dance Party tour 1959
Well over half the Rockabilly N Blues Radio Hour playlist this time is more NEW rockin' tunes! So excited to spin a NEW tune from Asleep At The Wheel featuring Katie Shore on vocals!!! We also get the latest releases from Swelltune Records (Shaun Young & The Texas Blue Dots, Tammi Savoy & The Chris Casello Combo and Three Blue Teardrops) as well as recent releases from El Toro Records (Johnny Bach/John Lewis, RVB and Wild Wax Combo), a Link Wray cover from The Primitive Finks (Hi-Tide Recordings), Kyle Eldridge & The Rhythm Rounders as part of our instru-Mental Breakdown and The Delta Bombers kicking off the show. Plus, our Heavy Hitter Triple Threat segment honoring Ritchie Valens with covers by Dion and Los Lobos and we spin rockers by icon artists Buzz & The Flyers, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and Wanda Jackson as well! Hear episode here:
Intro Voice Over- Rob "Cool Daddy" Dempsey Intro Music Bed: Brian Setzer- "Rockabilly Blues" The Delta Bombers- "Good Disguise" Buzz & The Flyers- "Boomerang" Asleep At The Wheel- "Jack I'm Mellow" Johnny Bach & The Moonshine Boozers- "The Mill" John Lewis & His Trio- "Definitely Ain't Got The Money" Roy Orbison- "Heartbreak Radio" Tammi Savoy & The Chris Casello Combo- "Big Baby" Shaun Young & The Texas Blue Dots- "Look At Me" instru-Mental Breakdown: Kyle Eldridge & The Rhythm Rounders- "Flat Get It" Duane Eddy & His Rock-A-Billies- "Ramrod" The Primitive Finks- "Mash Potato Party" Jerry Lee Lewis- "Number One Lovin' Man" Heavy Hitter Triple Threat: Ritchie Valens- "Cry Cry Cry" Dion- "Come On, Let's Go" Los Lobos- "Ooh, My Head" Three Blue Teardrops- "Ballin' Jack" RVB- "You Don't Care" Wild Wax Combo- "Model A" Wanda Jackson- "Slippin' & Slidin'" Outro Music Bed: Ritchie Valens- "Ritchie's Blues"
Alex Orbison is our guest this hour as we talk about a couple of recent releases from his dad Roy Orbison. We go in depth about the 13 CD The MGM Years box set and the previously unreleased One Of The Lonely Ones. We start the show off playing tunes from Buddy Holly, Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens and Dion. They were the 4 headliners from 1959's Winter Dance Party. The plane crash killing Buddy, Bopper and Ritchie happened 57 years ago on February 3, 1959. Be sure to also check out the bonus interview footage with Alex Orbison to hear more great stories and tunes!
Hear broadcast episode here:
Hear bonus show here (with the songs "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", "Give Up", "I Will Always", "I've Been Loving You Too Long"):
We remember the artists from the Winter Dance Party Tour this week. Buddy Holly, Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens were tragically killed in a plane crash on February 3rd, 1959. We hear from Dion who was also a part of the tour with his group The Belmonts on his thoughts on Buddy Holly and why he calls it "The Day The Music Was Born". Also this week, the title cut and new single from JD McPherson plus we've got rockers from Jerry Lee Lewis, Levi Dexter & Gretsch Brothers, Johnny Burnette, Robert Gordon, Traveling Wilburys and lots more!
J.P. Richardson ("The Big Bopper") was born this day in 1930. He worked at KTRM in Beaumont, TX. He began his musical career as a songwriter. "White Lightning" became George Jones' first number 1 hit in 1959. He also wrote "Running Bear" which became a #1 hit for Johnny Preston. Richardson may best be known for his signature song "Chantilly Lace" and the opening line of "Hellooo Baby!" He was in the plane crash that also took the lives of Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens. Here's the Bopper doing what he did best with "Chantilly Lace"...
Richard Steven Valenzuela (Ritchie Valens) was born this day in 1941 in Pacoima, CA. He tragically died 3 months before his 18th birthday along with Buddy Holly and "The Big Bopper" J.P. Richardson on February 3, 1959 while on the Winter Dance Party with fellow headliner Dion DiMucci.
February 3rd, 1959 is often referred to as "the day the music died" thanks mainly to the popular Don McLean tune "American Pie". He was singing about the plane crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson). Dion DiMucci was part of this tour with The Belmonts (as seen in the poster above) and had decided to give up his seat on the plane to take the bus to the next gig. Interestingly, he says "the day the music died" doesn't define that day for him. He refers to it as "the day the music was born". The legacy those 3 left inspired people from all over to continue developing their craft. Read more of his interview HERE.
Enjoy some select tunes from Buddy, Ritchie and Bopper as we remember the day the music was born:
I've heard a lot about Ritchie Valens from Dion DiMucci from their time together on the Winter Dance Party in 1959 and Chan Romero told us about the influence Ritchie's music had on his career. Because Ritchie died so young, I haven't met many that had a connection to him. I was excited to get this story from The Beach Boys' Bruce Johnston and his connection to both Ritchie and Donna Ludwig as well as learning about LA's Dick "Huggy Boy" Hugg . Here's what Bruce sent in:
In the early days of my music path (my age at the time was 16) and in the summer of 1958, I was in a Los Angeles local house band called Kip Tyler & The Flips. Our job was to back up the 'one hit wonders of the day' at dance & shows around LA County and we often backed up Ritchie Valens at the start of his recording & performing career. Ritchie's first released single at the time was "Come On Let's Go" which reached a national USA chart position of #42 in 1958. My role on stage in the band back then was to play keyboards while Ritchie played his guitar and sang. This took place a few short months before the release of Ritchie's "La Bamba" and "Donna" recordings.
Donna Ludwig
Just after Ritchie passed away in 1959, I was asked to sing backing vocals on an 'answer recording' to Ritchie Valens' album track "We Belong Together." The 'artist' was Donna (Donna Ludwig) and she was Ritchie Valens' girlfriend (and friend) starting in the 10th grade. Donna's song was called "Lost Without You." I actually sang in my normal tenor voice instead of my future-higher-Beach Boys-vocal-range voice. The recorded backing vocals for Donna's single release had very little harmony & were mostly sung in unison. Dick "Huggy Boy" Hugg, a local white Los Angeles DJ playing R&B music on KRKD-AM (very successfully in the fifties broadcasting live from the front window of the Dolphin's of Hollywood record store located in the South Central Los Angeles/Watts area) helped put this Donna recording project together in early 1959.
Billboard's report from this day in 1960 states that Dion & The Belmonts were splitting. The group had enjoyed such hits as "I Wonder Why", "Where Or When", "Teenager In Love", "No One Knows" and many others. They were part of the Winter Dance Party in 1959 when a plane crash tragically took the lives of fellow headliners Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson). You can see them on stage on a date from that tour with a young Waylon Jennings playing bass (far left):
After the split, Dion went on to such solo hits as "The Wanderer", "Runaround Sue", "Ruby Baby" and more. The group did reunite for the 1966 album Together Again as well as the 1972 Live From Madison Square Garden album. Enjoy some great footage of their hits below:
We recently got to spend some time with Chan Romero on the phone talking about rock & roll, his faith in Jesus and all sorts of things. He was a total delight to talk to and his story is one repeating. I read that your earliest influence was Elvis Presley.
Elvis was my inspiration
in the beginning. I had 5 brothers and 4
sisters. All my brothers played guitar
and sang. They were country singers. I was the only one that didn’t play. I was 14 when I saw Elvis on the Steve Allen
Show sing “Hound Dog”. That blew me away
to the place where I said “I’ve got to do that!”
You later signed to Del-Fi Records. How did that happen?
Ritchie died February 3,
1959. He was my next inspiration after
Elvis. When he died, a friend of mine
that was a DJ…Don Redfield…told me that I reminded him of Ritchie Valens. He sent a tape of some songs I had written
down to Bob Keane at Del-Fi and that’s how I got signed.
Didn't you do some demos there on that same recorder Ritchie used?
I went to Bob’s house
after we had recorded at Gold Star. He
had a little 2-track machine and he said it was the machine he recorded “Donna”
on. It came out so good that they
released it that way and it went top 10.
The Beatles were impacted by "Hippy Hippy Shake" in those early days performing in Hamburg and then at the Cavern Club and even performed it on the BBC. Paul still puts it in his set periodically. Did you ever have any contact with those guys?
No I never had any contact with The Beatles or The
Swinging BlueJeans but they sure did a lot for my music.
Did you ever have any idea how that song would make an impact when you wrote it?
No, I tell people all the
time that I wrote 600 or 700 songs and most of those songs are so much better
than “Hippy Hippy Shake” but it was the one that caught hold. It was just recently in X-Men: First Class. One of
my sons called me from the theater and said "they're playing your song!". I
asked him which version they were using and he said it was my version
Around 1964 you were a touring member of The Crickets for several months. How did this come about?
I’m surprised you found
out about that one (laughs). A friend of
mine Jerry Naylor took over for Buddy after he was killed. He sounded a lot like him. He didn’t play an instrument but was a really
good front man. He became a good friend
of mine. When he moved to LA, I got
together with him one time and he had brought Glen Campbell in to town from
Albuquerque. He got him going too. Jerry asked “is there any way you could come
work with the Crickets for a while?”
Glen D. Hardin and his wife were having a baby and he didn’t want to go
out on the road. They had a Midwestern
tour getting ready to go and they needed someone to cover for him. I talked with my band and they were able to
continue on with the gigs we were playing then.
I really enjoyed working with Jerry Naylor, Sonny Curtis and Jerry
Allison. (names). We had quite a
time. The first gig we did in Sacramento
with 4 Seasons and The Beach Boys.
What is really interesting to me is that at the height of your popularity, you gave it all up after you dedicated your life to Jesus.
Yeah, I had my band and we were
up in Quebec. It was around Christmas
time and I was going to come home for the holidays to be with the family. My wife and I had 3 kids at the time. My wife had come to the Lord. She and her sister were really hungry for a
spiritual movement of God in their life.
The family all got saved and I had no desire to leave my new experience
with the Lord and go back to Canada to continue the lifestyle I was in
there. It wasn’t really bad but I just
knew it wasn’t right. I called the guys
in the band and said I won’t be coming back.
They said, “What’s wrong are you sick?”.
I said "no, I met the best friend that I've ever had and his name is Jesus. I’ve decided to follow Jesus." They thought I had lost my coins
(laughs). When I left there I had a
bunch of instruments and a trailer full of equipment. I said I’m just giving this to you guys as a
sacrifice to the Lord. I had just signed
a recording contract with a couple of producers in New York (Jeff
Barry and Shadow Morton) and signed a contract with the same label the Four Seasons were
on. I had recorded 4 sides and left the
whole thing to follow the Lord. I started
my own label Warrior Records and started releasing my own gospel material. I’ve been recording right along and written a
lot of songs. The Lord has been good to
us.
I'm sure your popularity also gave you a bigger platform to spread the good news.
Yeah that’s true. There’s not as much interest in the music now as there was back
then. I’m currently working with a
ministry called Twin Eagles Ministries.
I’m one of the pastors there.
We’ve pastored 7 churches so far.
We’re thankful for what the Lord has done.
How can people reach you if they are interested about your music or ministry?
I have a couple of addresses and an email address:
If anyone is interested in
our music, they can contact us at either one of these or email. We could send a brochure of our recordings.
Do you still get requests to come out and play your rock & roll tunes?
I get a call every once in
a while to do a rockabilly venue or a rock and roll oldies show. We’re getting ready to do one October 23rd. We do those occasionally or if they call us
from Europe or overseas. We’ve been to
Austraila 3 times. We had a top 10
record there. It’s amazing where those
sounds and that music will take you to.
If the name doesn't ring a bell, you've most likely heard his biggest hit "Hippy Hippy Shake". Chan Romero released this single originally in 1959 on the Del-Fi record label. Chan had a similar style to Ritchie Valens who also recorded for Del-Fi but was tragically killed in that plane crash in February of '59 along with Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper. "Hippy Hippy Shake" has long been a favorite of Paul McCartney as The Beatles used to perform this one live during their early Cavern Club days and he still periodically works it in to his set these days as well. It's also appeared in such movies as Uncle Buck, Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery and others. The Georgia Satellites also covered it on the Cocktail soundtrack in 1988. Hear the original from Chan here....
Billy Grammer passed away on August 10th, 2011. Here's his signature song "Gotta Travel On" that became a hit in early 1959. In fact, Buddy Holly and the headliners from the Winter Dance Party Tour (Dion DiMucci, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper) would play this song in February 1959 before the fateful plane crash.
